Harding heirs hope hospital site stays open

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 28, 2013 at 11:11 AM

The paths, large trees and camplike feel of a Worthington autism-treatment facility would be preserved as a park, or presidential library, or at least have public access, if Peter Harding has his way. Harding, 72, who grew up on the site of the former Harding Hospital, worries that the 45-acre ravine-cut homestead might be spoiled if not developed wisely. He also believes that the woodland beauty near 445 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. should be shared.

Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch

The paths, large trees and camplike feel of a Worthington autism-treatment facility would be preserved as a park, or presidential library, or at least have public access, if Peter Harding has his way.

Harding, 72, who grew up on the site of the former Harding Hospital, worries that the 45-acre ravine-cut homestead might be spoiled if not developed wisely. He also believes that the woodland beauty near 445 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. should be shared.

The sale of the Ohio State University-owned site to Step By Step Academy has been approved by the university’s trustees and, last week, by the Ohio legislature. Gov. John Kasich signed the bill on Dec. 19.

But Harding, his relatives, some state lawmakers and a Cleveland lawyer who is pining for a presidential library have reservations.

“That is to Worthington what Central Park is to New York City,” Harding said of the site of the former psychiatric hospital. “That should not be held back from the public no matter what happens,” he said from his California home.

Harding, who is a lawyer and psychiatrist, is a founder of the Big Sur Land Trust, a 35-year-old agreement that protects 40,000 acres along the central coast of California from development. In a recent letter to city officials, he urged Worthington to consider a similar trust or conservation easement around his old home “to protect the pristine beauty of the ravines and old-growth woodland.”

Harding is a grandnephew of President Warren G. Harding. His 85-year-old cousin, George Harding, is the family patriarch and has a home bordering the property in Worthington. There is no official public access, but many house lots back up to the site, and the ravine is used for hiking and exploring.

Harding Hospital gave the property to Ohio State in the late 1990s, stipulating that it retain a health-care or educational purpose. At the time, the hospital employed more than 300. Today, Step By Step, which leases the facility, has 190 full- and part-time workers and an annual payroll of about $6 million.

Worthington officials support the sale, noting that future expansion, including a residential treatment option, will help the landlocked community’s economy. “The only thing in the comprehensive plan that would generate more tax revenue is a corporate campus,” said City Manager Matt Greeson.

“It’s a real gem in our community,” Greeson said, “a bucolic, therapeutic environment” ideal for the mission of helping children with autism.

Others have grander visions.

“There’s skepticism on my part. It’s a large parcel. And it has value,” said state Rep. Terry Blair, a Dayton-area Republican. He and others questioned the $4.6 million sale price, which, at $100,000 per acre, was about the same as farmland on the outskirts of Franklin County.

The low price could benefit the city, said state Rep. Mike Duffey, a Worthington Republican who used to skip stones and hunt crawdads in the ravine. “Now you don’t have the bar set at a high level that locks up the land” if the autism facility wants to sell the property.

Jim Robenalt, a Cleveland lawyer and presidential historian, would like to see a presidential library in Ohio and thinks the historic, central location of the Harding property would be perfect to honor the state’s eight presidents.

“I would make it into a Camp David-like setting,” he said, referring to the presidential retreat in Maryland. He envisions a hotel, conventions and a scholarly setting.

Robenalt has asked former OSU President E. Gordon Gee for advice. “He loved it. We’re going to get this done,” Robenalt said he was told.

John Gleason, Step By Step’s attorney, declined to comment on such plans. Older buildings will be razed and others rebuilt. And Worthington, he acknowledged, will have oversight through zoning and other codes. Neighbors’ continuing use of the paths has not been an issue, he said.

His personal opinion: “A facility to help children with autism spectrum disorder is much more beneficial than a presidential library.”

The company will, however, be open to the community’s and the Harding family’s wishes, he said.

“We have been a good asset to the city and good neighbor to the city and want to continue to be that.”

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.